Hunter Ranger named Army Special Ops Medic of the Year

An Army Ranger stationed at Hunter Army Airfield Friday morning was named the Army's top Special Operations medic.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Hutchinson, the senior medic for A Company of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, earned the accolade for actions during his most recent deployment to Afghanistan. It was his fifth such deployment since enlisting in the Army in 2006.

Among other accomplishments, according to the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Hutchinson was the first medic ever to "administer Tranexamic Acid in a prehospital environment." The patient, a wounded Afghan soldier, immediately responded to the clotting agent that was only recently authorized for use in the field, the award citation said. Eventually the Afghan soldier made a full recovery.